This invention generally relates to a printed circuit assembly having a flexible, non-conductive substrate.
By printed circuit it is understood a term that actually is considered generic applied to a method for the manufacturing of electric circuits, formed by conductors and electronic components, resistances, inductancies and capacitances and other using any of the processes of the printing art. The printing processes most commonly employed in printed circuit manufacturing can be divided in three great groups; material removal processes, film deposit processes and molding and embossing processes.
The support element of electronic components in most cases is a stiff non-conductive plate, on which is deposited a thin layer of conductive material in such a way that makes the interconnections needed between components.
Spanish Patent No. 9,200,325 (having common ownership with this application) discloses a process for the manufacturing of a service box, and the Spanish Patent No. 9,501,610 (commonly owned with this application) discloses a system for integrating double printed circuits (i.e., printed in both faces) with the possibility of interconnecting two or more plates. Those patents also discuss the possibility of machining a longitudinal strip in the insulating support in order to be able to fold the conductive portion and thus be able to shape several architectures that can be adapted to the service box, which in turn show an external design in agreement with the wall or surface of the vehicle where the circuits will be used.
The present invention includes substituting the rigid substrate or insulating plate of the prior art with totally flexible substrates of polyester, polyamide, FR-4, CEM-1 or other materials of the same family that have a great flexure capacity and allow the adherence of a copper conductive coat, up to 800 microns, such that it can withstand the heat produced because of the circulation of power through the conductive portion and generation of a thermal increase, and does not delaminate from the elastic and flexible support.
Experiments performed in the laboratory indicate that the preferred embodiment includes flexibility that goes together with a specific design of the various tracks that integrate the copper conductive layer. When these are configured substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal edges of the support, the deformation strain is reduced since it involves very little surface of the conductive material. This feature does not make the design of the circuit or tracks more difficult since a mechanical folding gives a solution to this need of a bigger strain, therefore the design of the tracks can be performed with any type of configuration, the strain of the folding not being a problem when manufacturing this type of printed circuits.
The design and manufacturing of this new type of printed circuits represents on the other hand the possibility for adapting the several components to the service boxes. The inventive assembly allows the combination with layouts in which the dielectric supports are rigid, enabling the assembly of several types of circuits (of rigid and flexible support) by the customary means, such as short pins, long female pins and every other element facilitating the assembly as well as the integration.
Other details and features of the present invention will appear during the detailed description that follows, where reference is made to the Figures. The details are given as an example only, referring to a case of a practical embodiment. The following description must be considered from an illustrative point of view and without any limitations whatsoever.